opposite ends of the magnet
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: because, really, Roxanne and Kareem are nothing alike. But sometimes, opposites do attract. When Roxanne is sent to stay with an Arabic family, things heat up between her and a boy... who's her total opposite. Roxanne/OC -NextGen-


**opposite ends of the magnet**  
(_because, baby, sometimes opposites do attract_)

Roxanne/Kareem

She's always been a little ball of fire.

From school to home to school again, she's out there, blazing up people's lives like a firework. She's always had a knack for getting in trouble, though, and she's never quite taken a liking to schoolwork. Sure, if she has enough _motivation, _she'll do what she's supposed to. But she much prefers goofing around, teasing friends, and making new friends.

Then her latest report card comes in.

"_ROXANNE WEASLEY!_" Her mother booms. She continues in a loud voice, "This is unacceptable! You're failing two subjects!"

"Yes, _Mama, _I know," Roxanne frowns. "But, this school is so _hard,_ and I'm just in fifth year, not exam time yet-"

"Places you apply to look at fifth year grades, too," Her father inserts himself into the conversation. "Roxanne, something has got to be done about this."

"Whatever!" Roxanne scowls, turning her back and dashing out of the room.

_(but when fire __**spreads**_**, **_it spreads)_

-_my heart spills out like a bad dream  
and I scream, as I'm slipping in your water-_

That's how she ended up in Iraq for the holiday, alongside some random Arabic boy she's never seen before.

"Who are you?" Roxanne asks, being sure to enunciate every single syllable.

"My English not good," The boy apologises, shaking his head at her. "I am sorry. I will take you to Kareem, his English very good. We go now. Oh… I am _Nadeer_."

Staring at him, she wonders, "You are Natalie's cousin?"

"Eh?" He responds simply, staring at her as if she's insane.

Slowly, she repeats, "A..di…_an._"

"Oh! Natalie! _Yes_, I know. Follow me," Nadeer demands, pulling Roxanne off towards a gate. Confused, she follows him to a cab. Nervously, she sends a message via the coins they have to Natalie, who is currently also visiting Iraq with her family. **Is ur cousin named Nadeer?**

**Yes,** Natalie responds, **Nadeer is Kareem's brother.**

Sighing in relief, Roxanne follows Nadeer into the cab.

_-you know, you know, you know I'd never ask you to change  
if perfect's what you're searching for, then just stay the same-_

Once she gets there, she's accosted with the entire family. Three sisters (Laila, Parveen, and Tahani) along with the parents and the brother she's heard so much about, Kareem.

First glance and she knows what Natalie's been raving about. Green eyes sit perfectly in the middle of a tan face, with a nice crop of ruffled black hair atop his head. If she has to admit one thing, it's that this boy is extremely handsome. Smiling, he only greets her with a simple, "Hello."

"That's all I get?" Roxanne demands, playful smile taking over her face. "I come here all the way from _Britain_, hear all about your super good English skills, and all I get is a hello?"

"I am sorry to offend you," He replies, frowning.

"I'm just kidding, man," Roxanne giggles. "You don't like jokes?"

Extending his hand, he greets her again. "Hello, I am Kareem."

"It's nice to meet you," Roxanne beams, still radiating off heat. "I'm Roxanne."

_-am I crazy or falling in love?  
is it really just another crush?-_

The next few days pass too uneventfully for Roxanne's taste. Nadeer's always off at school, while Laila, Parveen, and Tahani help around the house, which Roxanne isn't permitted to do because _she's a guest _and all. Kareem just sits around, doing nothing, saying _nothing_, and irritating her to death in the process. She's never been happy to see people that just do _nothing _all of the time. All of the time, she wants to be doing _something, _making use of her time.

So she picks up her pink and white spotted soccer ball (_she's always had a taste for Muggle sports, and she can't very well go flying_) and heads out the door, getting ready to do _something_.

She ends up kicking the ball against an abandoned wall and catching it with her bare hands when it bounces back. Suddenly, someone joins her.

"So this is what you do in your spare time?" Kareem asks, leaning back against a wall. "Play Muggle sports?"

"No," Roxanne sticks out her tongue at him. "I was really, really bored, okay? You think there is anything else for me to do? I'm not _allowed_ to clean, there's not really anything else. So I decided to practise my soccer."

"You mean football," He replies simply, obviously amused.

Frowning, Roxanne sticks out her lip this time. "Those American transfer students have… hurt my vocabulary."

"Damaged it," Kareem agrees, kicking the ball flawlessly up to the top of his head. Heading the ball, it flies to the wall, bounces off, and rolls to a _stop_ right in front of Roxanne.

"Not bad," She allots, smiling. "Hey, I've got an idea!"

"What?" Kareem asks, letting the ball fall back in front of him.

"How about I play goalie and you try to shoot on me?" Roxanne suggests, basically bouncing up and down as she speaks.

"Sure," Kareem agrees, dribbling the ball over to right in front of the horrible-looking goal that he's so often used for practise.

Grinning, Roxanne skips over to the middle of the goal and positions herself so that she's ready. "Hit me with your best shot!"

With a loud _BAM_, his foot connects with the pink ball. It flies hard into the goal, hitting the net with a remarkable swish. Roxanne's big brown eyes widen even more. "_How _did you do that?"

"Talent," Kareem smiles just a little bit. "Just kidding, practise."

"Go easy on me, all right?" Roxanne pleads, widening her eyes to give him the infamous 'puppy dog eyes'.

"Fine," Kareem agrees. Placing the ball in front of him once again, his eyes train on its pink form before his foot connects with it again. A _thud _is audible this time, though not as loud as the _BAM _before. Grinning, Roxanne catches it easily.

"Not bad," Kareem allots. "For a _girl_."

That's the beginning of a beautiful (_and incredibly strange_) friendship.

_-when I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change  
cause girl you're amazing, just the way you are-_

Every day, Roxanne and Kareem go out to play soccer. And every day, quiet little introvert Kareem scores a goal on loud, extroverted Roxanne.

They become close friends eventually, playing to each other's strengths.

One day, to her intense surprise, he brings with him a small brown basket. She tries to take it from him, but he won't have any of it.

"No," He tells her, scowling. "I will show you _after_."

"After what?" Roxanne pouts. "After we play? But _Kareem, _I want to see what's inside now, even if it's something for me-"

"No, after I don't score on you," Kareem tells her.

Her eyes brighten, realising that this basket and whatever is inside is Kareem's way of motivating her. "Got it. Okay, let's go then! You won't score this time, you'll see!"

Smiling, Kareem steps up to the goal, absentmindedly kicking around the soccer ball. Roxanne slides on her goalie gloves, staring at him with the utmost of competitive looks. She's going to do it this time, she promises herself, she really is.

Yet, the first time he shoots, it goes in with a _swoosh_ once again.

Gritting her teeth together, she resumes the position and readies herself. He shoots once again. _BAM!_ She jumps, arms outstretched, and her fingers barely brush the pink threading of the soccer ball. But it's enough. The soccer ball drops to the ground a few inches from where they were before.

"Very well," Kareem nods.

Roxanne shrieks, catching Kareem in a tight hug. The young boy looks surprised, but not entirely unpleased. Still screaming, she yells, "Did you see that, Kareem? I saved it, I really did!"

"Good job," He congratulates her enthusiastically, something rare for him. "Want to see what's in the basket?

"Do I ever!" She exclaims, still beaming. "What's inside of it? Go ahead, open it!"

Still smiling slightly, he pulls open the two sides to reveal all sorts of food. Roxanne's eyes lit up. "Picnic!"

"You bet," He grins, and the two of them share a picnic.

-_Oh, my girl, here we go around again  
I know it, you know it, don't try to pretend-_

When the sun's still shining brightly in the open air and the two of them are swinging in the elementary school playground, she asks him a question that he doesn't want to hear. "Kareem, have you ever been in love?"

His brown eyes flash with something like sadness. "Not real love."

"Did you think it was love?" She asks simply, staring at him intently.

"I thought it was," Downcast, his eyes follow her polka-dotted Converse shoes as they swing back and forth. "It wasn't. You?"

"I've had obsession, sure," She babbles. "I focus in on one guy at a time. But no, never really love, or at least I don't think so."

It's quiet for a few minutes as both of them are lost in their own thoughts. Again, Roxanne is the one to break it. "Do you think that you'll ever fall in love, Kareem?"

"I hope so," Kareem mutters.

"Me too," She sighs wistfully. "They say there's someone out there for everyone. Maybe one day I'll find that person."

Well, she might've just opened her eyes to what was right in front of her.

_-the first time that I felt your touch  
the first time I couldn't get enough-_

It's her final day, and the sun still burns brightly as if this isn't one of the saddest days of her whole entire life.

She's at the airport, all loaded up with all of her bags, and she's saying goodbye to her temporary family. She hugs the two parents, hugs Laila, Pareem, Nadeer, and Tahani. Then she comes to Kareem, who pulls her close. In her ear, he whispers, "You know, Roxanne, I was lying."

"About what?" Roxanne responds, confused.

"When I said I'd never been in love," he responds.

Her breath catches in her throat. "Me too."

Kissing her sweetly on her cheek, he stares into her eyes- green eyes catching brown- and maybe _this _is what true love is supposed to feel like, two people finally realising that opposites attract and that maybe they were meant for each other. Which, really, they always are.

"You'll come visit?" He inquires, making it seem like more of a demand.

"Of course," She agrees. "You have good food here."

Laughing, he presses his lips to her cheek again because _he's a gentleman_, and murmurs against it something like "I love you." She knows it's the closest she's going to get- he's always been a man of few words.

"I love you, too," She replies, wanting to have no regrets. Then, to her dismay, it's time for her to go. "Goodbye!" She calls as she's pulled into the crowd of people.

Maybe there _is _someone for everyone.

_-don't say goodbye, cause I don't want to hear those words tonight  
cause maybe it's not the end for you and I-_

"How was your trip?"Natalie asks eagerly on the first day back from holiday.

"It was good," Roxanne mutters, acting as if it had never meant anything to her. Turning to Natalie, she asks, "How come you never mentioned Kareem before?"

"You fell in love with him," Natalie replies knowingly.

Roxanne just shrugs. "He's a great guy."

_-I came along one day and you rearranged my life  
All I gotta say is I must have done something right_-

It wasn't seven years later that Natalie and Roxanne became cousins-in-law.

**A/N: Well, that was an interesting fic. I like the way Roxanne is characterised, but still. **

**Songs used that I don't own: Must Have Done Something Right by Relient K, Drowning by Darin because I'm obsessed with that song, Crush by David Archuleta, The First Time by Family Force 5, Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars**, **Don't Say Goodbye by Skillet, Madeline by Hanson**.

**This is pretty bad, so sorry, and it's corny. Kareem is an Arabic OC, in case you couldn't tell, and I don't think I got the place all that right, but oh well.**

**Please review! XD**


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